13-06-2013
Green Chemistry Campus welcomes Progression Industry
As from 1 July Progression Industry joins the Green Chemistry Campus in Bergen op Zoom. The young company is developing a drop-in biofuel named CyclOx. Progression Industry will also remain active from its home base on the Technical University (TU) in Eindhoven.
CyclOx
CyclOx is an abbreviation for cyclic oxygenates. The combination of a cyclic structure and onboard oxygen improves the fuel-oxygen mixing process before and during combustion, thereby suppressing soot formation. On average, the addition of 10% CyclOx® to diesel fuel results in a 50% (best-in-class) decline in soot emissions.
CyclOx was invented in the Department of Combustion Technology of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the Technical University of Eindhoven, where Michael Boat from Progression Industry got his PhD. CyclOx can be produced from the plant material, lignin, which is currently a waste stream in the production of paper and ethanol. Consequently, the production of CycloX is not in competition with the food chain. The biodiesel CyclOx is especially suitable for the shipping industry.
Order of Maersk, the largest shipping company in the world
According to EU directives, by 2020 at least 10% of the marine diesel must be made out of bio-fuel. CyclOx is a 'double-green' fuel because it both prevents the emission of nitrogen oxides and soot and, in time it can be produced out of biomass in a commercially interesting way. Progression Industry recently received an order from Maersk, the largest shipping company in the world. Each year Maersk will order 50,000 tonnes of lignin based CyclOx.
Progression Industry will use the various facilities of the Green Chemistry Campus in order to profit from the cross-fertilization with other entrepreneurs and research programs. One of these programs is the Shared Research Center Biobased Aromatics.
Shared Research Center Biobased Aromatics
The Shared Research Center is an international initiative of TNO, VITO and the Green Chemistry Campus and forms part of the Biobased Delta. This platform is anticipating the expected growing shortage of aromatics from the petrochemical industry and the industry's widely shared ambition to develop new green alternatives derived from renewable raw materials. The Shared Research Center is going to examine how bio-aromatic compounds from agro-residuals can be developed and its ambition is to become one of the world's top centres in this field within five years.
The innovation of Progression Industry seamlessly fits the activities of the Research Center. Hence, the company is a welcome addition to the Green Chemistry Campus.
About the Green Chemistry Campus
The Green Chemistry Campus, located on the premises of SABIC Innovative Plastics is an incubator where companies accelerate their biobased innovations on the cutting edge of agro and chemistry. The campus is an initiative of the province of North Brabant, the municipality of Bergen op Zoom and NV REWIN West Brabant.
For more information:
- Green Chemistry Campus REWIN, Wiebe Logghe, (0031) (0)6 30 96 36 95
- Progression Industry, Michael Boot, mdboot@tue.nl
